Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise two issues but I will be brief, so as not to take up too much time. I have been contacted by nursing homes and Nursing Homes Ireland which told me that there is an undue delay in registering nurses with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland. More than 100 nurses are waiting over 100 days for registration. If this is not sorted out sooner rather than later, it will result in nursing home beds closing. This will have a knock-on effect on hospitals and accident and emergency departments. I know it is too late to ask the Minister for Health to come in here but I want to put it on the record of the House. I will contact the Minister directly to try to get this sorted out as quickly as possible. There are enough delays in accident and emergency departments and hospitals without causing delays in nursing home beds and step-down facilities for patients who need care.

The second issue has been brought to my attention by a number of parents. It concerns the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. I campaigned long and hard for this vaccine to be given to 12 year old girls in first and second year in secondary schools but some parents have grave concerns about the side effects of this vaccine. I am not a medical person and I cannot say whether it has caused the symptoms quite a number of girls are experiencing.Some 250 young girls at the moment are suffering side effects from this vaccine. They have set up their own website called REGRET and anyone can visit it to see what it is about. No-one seems to be taking responsibility or admitting that the vaccine is causing problems.

The people who contacted me were not looking for compensation. They want parents to know the side effects of this drug and that everyone should be made aware. I have a letter which was sent to another Member of this House who has given me permission to use it and it has been circulated. It is from Dr. Kevin Kelleher, the assistant national director of public health with the HSE. Parents have taken grave exception to a paragraph with this letter. It states:

All the information provided to parents about vaccination is prepared from the available licensed documentation for each vaccine, the Summary of Products Characteristics, SPC, and the Patient Information Leaflet, PIL. [Parents really take exception to the following] The information is presented in clear simple language and approved by the National Adult Literacy Agency so that it can be understood by all adults as the average reading age in Ireland is 12 years of age.

To send this out to anyone is condescending, patronising and is an insult to parents.